Dummy keyboard.



No.'823,888. PATENTED JUNE 19, 1906.

' J. W. MOGANN.

DUMMY KEYBOARD. APPLICATION FILED JULY'27, 1905.

JOSEPH W. MCUANN, OF \VASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

DUMMY KEYBOARD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 19, 1906.

Application filed July 27, 1905. Serial No. 271,522.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, Josnrn W. MCCANN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Washington, in the District of Columbia, have invented new and useful Improvements in Dummy Keyboards, of which the following is a specification.

My invention pertains to dummy or practice keyboards, and it. contemplates the provision of a simple and durable keyboard calculated to enable a person'of average intelligence with a reasonable amount of study and practice to acquire the quick and light touch necessary to bring down a matrix in the Mergenthaler linotype-machine at present in general use, to determine the speed he is making, to practice to the same advantage as onthe keyboard of a Mergenthaler machine with anview of becoming proficient in the use of all of his fingers and thumbs in rapidly operating a Mergenthaler machine, and to memorize or fix in his mindthe relative arrangement of the keys comprised in the keyboard of said machine, so that he can operate the keys speedily and correctly without looking at the keyboard.

Other advantageous features of the invention will be fully understood from the following description and claims when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view illustrating I the dummy keyboard constituting the prescut and preferred embodiment of my invention asthe same appears when set up ready for use. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the keyboard, and Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective view illustrating one of the keys as removed and also illustrating the peculiar and advantageous manner in which the characterbearing label is applied to the key-body.

Similar letters designate corresponding parts in all of the views of the drawings, reierring to which- A is the body of the dummy keyboard. The said body preferably comprises a major portion a, of wood, and a layer of tin b, fixed on the upper side of the wood portion, and it is designed to be supported by a hinged prop c in such a position that its upper surface forms an inclined plane, as illustrated. When the keyboard is not in use, the rop c is folded against the back of the bodyr so as to take up but aminimum amount of space instorage or shipment.

B is a copy-holder. This copy-holder preferablycomprises a piece of sheet metal (I, having a flange e at its lower edge, and a metallic frame f secured to the back of the sheet metal (1 and terminating in studs 9,

only one of which is illustrated, designed to be removably arranged in eyes It on the upper edge of the body A, Fig. 2. By virtue of this construction the copy-holder may obviously be detached and laid flat against the under side of the body A for convenience in storage or shipment.

C is a space-bar, which is preferably of wood and is connected by strips It, of s ring metal, with the upper edge of the ho y A, whereby it is normally retained in the position'illustra-ted and yet is free to move down and up. At its left-hand end the space-bar is provided with a finger-piece Z, preferably of spring metal, on the under side of which is fixed a dog m, arranged when the fingerpiece is depressed to engage a toothed wheel n, carrying an arm p. The toothed wheel is designed to be rotated step by step by depression of the finger-piece Z, and is held against retrograde movement by a gravitating pawl 1. Then the toothed wheel n makes a complete revolution, its arm 12, acting against a pendent hammer s, forces said hammer against a bell t, and thereby apprises the student of the fact that he is approaching the end of a line.

The mechanism just described is preferably arranged to notifythe student when he has set a line of ordinary newspaper measure averaging seven words or approximately twenty-seven ems, and when it is employed in connection with a number of, say, one hundred quads 'or other articles it enables the student to determine the speed he is making. In this use the operator places at his right on a suitable support one hundred quads. When the bell rings, he knows that he has set six words, and he then sets an ad ditional word and picksa quad from the pile. This icking of a quad is a substitute for raising t e lever of an ordinary Mergenthaler machine, and byibservin student is enab to rea ily determine the length of time it takes him to set one hundred lines or about twenty-seven hundredems.

D D are the keys of thedummy keyboard.

a timepiece the of the label 2;, which is looped and connected These keys are relatively arranged in. the same manner as the keys in the keyboard of the Mergenthaler linotype-machine and bear corresponding characters, and hence it Will be apparent that a person practicing on the dumm with t e Mergenthale'i linotypekey oard to such an extent that he can operate said keyboard with the fingers and thumbs of both hands accurately and speedily and this without looking at the keyboard. This latter is an important desideratum, inasmuch as it is advantageous for a Mergenthaler operator While operating the keyboardto'watch the Working of the machine. The keys D' are I one end and a dog on said finger-p1ece,spring grouped or relatively arranged on the inclined plane of the body A in the manner shown and are identical, with the exception that each bears a different character. For this latter reason a detailed description of the key shown in Fig. 3 will suffice to impart a definite understanding 'of all. The said key, Fig. 3, com rises a body'u, of thin brass or other suitab e spring metal, and a characterbearing label 1), of paper or other flexible material. The key-body a has an inner bent end w, which is brazed or otherwise fixed to the inclined plane of the body A so that the major portion of the key-body rests horizontally at an acute angle to'said inclined plane, Fig. 2, and it is also provided. adjacent to its free end with a shoulder-r. This shoulder enables the maker to readily square the end in such form by adhesive or other means to the key-body, and in that wa facilitates the proper application of the labell It will be. readily apparent from the foregoing that the keys D, connected to the inclined plane of'the body A in the manner described, will give to the touchof an operator and when relieved of pressure will s back to the normal position i lustrated, also that the touch necess'aryto depress the free ends of the keys D is similar to that required to manipulate a key of the Mergenthaler-ke'yboard, and thereby bring-down a single matrix. From this latter it follows that the student using my novel dummy keyboard isen abled to ac 'uire not only speed, but also the proper touc so requisite to the successful opfi'ation of the Mergenthaler linotype-ma- Y e. It will be gathered from the fore oing that my novel device is simple and we 1 adapted to withstand the usage to which such devices are ordinarily subjected, also that the device will enablea student operator to attain a degree of finishand speed in practice-work which would require a muchlonger period to reach were the daily work on a machine when accuracv forkeyboard will become ac uainted.

'ing inner, bent ends braze rm of themselvespractice confined solely to the bids an attempt atspeed, and the necessity of sending up so many lines per minute makes it inexpedient to experiment on method.

Inaddition to the practical advantages which .I have hereinbefore ascribed to m novel dummy keyboard it will be noted that the same is very ight in weight and is therefore adapted to be carried from place to place with facility. 1 Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,- 1s

1. A dummy keyboard comprising a body, keys, of spring metal, fixed at one endto the ody, a space-bar having a finger-piece at metal strips connecting the space-bar and the body, a toothed wheel arranged to be rotated in one direction by the dog, means for preventing retrograde movement of the toothed .wheel, a bell carried by the body, andmeans o erated by the toothed wheel for striking t e bell when the wheel is turned through a complete revolution.

2. A dummy keyboard comprising a body, keys, of spring metal, fixed at one end to: the body, a space-bar, a spring connection between the bar and the body, a-bell, and means operated by the space-bar for ringing the bell when said bar is depressed a predetermined number of times.

3. A dummy keyboard com rising a-body having an upper-surface which forms an inclined plane, and keys, of spring metal, fixed at, their inner ends directly to the inclined plane of the body and resting above and at I an acute angle thereto. v

4. A dummy keyboard comprising a bodyv having an upper surface arranged to form an inclined plane, and keys, of s ring metal, havd to the inclined plane of the body, whereby the keys rest horizontally at an acute angle to the inclined plane. I

5. A dummy keyboard comprisingfabody having an upper surface arranged to form an inclined plane, and keys having bodies, of spring metal, provided with inner bent. ends brazed to the inclined plane of the body and also rovided adjacent to their free ends with shou ders, and looped, character-bearing-labels receiving and connected by adhesiveto the free ends of the key-bodies andhaving their ends alined with the shoulders of said bodies. In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing .Wit

nesses.

JOSEPH W. McCA-NN. Witnesses:

NELLIE C. HEA Y, THOMAS E. TURPIN. 

